One common practice for the placement of concrete during the construction of slab-on-grade concrete surfaces and floors is to discharge concrete directly from concrete delivery trucks via a chute onto a subgrade upon which the slab will be formed. In some cases, such as where the truck has a front discharge chute, only the truck driver is required to perform the task of controlling the concrete chute from the driver's seat. However, considerable manual labor is required to spread the concrete to a reasonably uniform depth for subsequent strike-off or screeding. Automated laser system responsive screeding machines, such as a Laser Screed machine manufactured by Somero Enterprises of Houghton, Mich., USA (and/or such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,633; 4,930,935; 6,129,481; 6,152,647; 6,183,160; 6,588,976; and/or 6,623,208, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference), reduce the manual labor of screeding concrete substantially over large areas. However, in many instances where such a screeding machine cannot be used, the concrete still must be spread out or struck-off in a somewhat uniform fashion by manual effort which is very labor intensive and costly.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved striking-off or raking apparatus and/or method that requires less manual labor and thus overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.